The polar vortex, that massive dome of frigid air that provided some of the coldest weather in two decades earlier this month, is coming back for an encore performance, forecasters say.

And this time, the show may be extended.

Forecasters believe a major pattern shift will occur in the coming days, one that will help a portion of the polar vortex once again dive south, bringing unseasonably cold air with it. Only this time, the pattern will be more stagnant, allowing the cold to remain locked in place for days, if not weeks.

“It could rival the cold snap from earlier this month,” said Nick Troiano, a meteorologist at Hackettstown-based WeatherWorks. “It might not be as extreme from a numbers perspective but it could be far longer in terms of duration. It might be more memorable, in that respect.”

What’s more, forecasts also call for a ridge of high pressure over the western half of the country to pull westward by the end of the month, dragging a trough over the east with it. If this happens, it would become far easier for a significant winter storm to develop – just in time for a certain major sporting event.

That’s not to say a major storm will definitely strike during the Super Bowl - according to climatology records, that remains statistically unlikely. However, climatology records do not always walk in line with reality.

“The potential is absolutely there for a significant snowfall, however the odds do not favor it,” said David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University. “Climatology records are also made to be broken.

Regardless, according to long term forecasts from the National Weather Service, it now appears highly likely cold air will invade the region this week and hang around through at least the following ten to 14 days.

“Unlike what we’ve seen for, really, the past two months, this time it looks as though the pattern will keep the cold air enforced,” Robinson said.

An Arctic front is expected to move across the region on Martin Luther King Day, pulling the polar vortex down with it. Once it passes, high temperatures are not expected to climb out of the 20s in New Jersey for the remainder of the workweek, while low temperatures could fall to the teens and single digits.

The state should remain relatively dry during the next week, though some light snow is possible across the Garden State today.